Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time -
a day to begin transforming
winter's dreams into summer's magic.
-- Adrienne Cook

Would you believe that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in Munich, Germany? In fact, there has been a parade on Sunday before St. Patrick's Day since 1996. From the St. Patrick's Day website:

"It all started in 1996 with around 300 spectators. The parade has grown steadily since then, becoming larger, livelier and more colourful, and today it's one of Europe's largest St. Patrick's Day parades - after Dublin, of course - attracting some 20,000 visitors."

Pretty cool, huh? Of course, I had to be part of the fun. I went to Odeonsplatz (Odeon's Square), walking down Ludwigstraße (Ludwig's Street) past the equestrian statue by Max von Widnmann showing King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

The details of the monument are gorgeous.

Here you see down Ludwig's Street. The big building is the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library) -- I spent many hours there. In the distance you see the towers of the Ludwigskirche (Church St. Louis).

I found a nice place to watch the parade near the Siegestor (Victory Gate). Everybody was ready for the fun to start!

Some had even dressed up green for the occasion.

The first one to greet us was St. Patrick himself
along with a lovely Irish Wolfhound.


Here's a close-up of the huge dog:

And two portraits of St. Patrick
which I took a while later at Odeonsplatz.

Then came coaches with the VIPs.



The man in the white jacket is Munich's mayor...



... Christian Ude.



Beautiful horses...



... who left behind poop. Here's where the "Official Shit Collectors" came into play.



Got you -- you are smiling now!

Who says that all leprechauns are awful little men?

A lovely leprechaun lady handed us a gold coin.

You could even eat it.

The Munich Ceili Band.

Claymore Pipes & Drums -- oh, what great music...



... and lovely Scottish kilts!

There were even highlanders -- from Lechfeld.



Wild men and women.



A marching band from Gilching, a small Bavarian town.



Then came the men with the flags.

That one flag was really huge.

Everyone was enjoying the atmosphere -- we were all Irish that day.



Even the Bolivian dance group.



Frank McLynn wrote about the first parade of 1996:

"The atmosphere was electrifying and the parade was peaceful attracting onlookers and participants of all nationalities and creeds, something which was the cornerstone of our fundamental idea: a Multi-Kulti event organized by the Irish in Munich."

With the Bolivians, the event was surely "Multi-Kulti." Besides, it was great to see participants of all ages.

Then came the German-English Association. In the background you see the back side of the Victory Gate with its inscription:

Dem Sieg geweiht, vom Krieg zerstört, zum Frieden mahnend.
(Dedicated to victory, destroyed by war, reminding of peace.)

More bagpipe music!



An odd couple.

A marching band from Rosenheim.

Which parade would be complete without cowboys?
This roper knew his trade well.





The cowboy on the right side in the background was cute.



Father and son looked so proud being part of the parade.



A marching band from Ebersberg...



... was among the last parade participants.

I then walked back to Odeonsplatz where the parade ended. In the very background you can make out the Feldherrnhalle (Hall of Field Marshals).

This Asian girl enjoyed taking photos just as much as I did.



I had another chance to see the members of
the Irish Prison Service Pipe Band.



Cool shoes and socks.



Almost at Odeonsplatz.



Here you have a good view of the Feldherrnhalle.



On the right side there is the Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church).


Isn't that dog just cute?

So very cute...



Not enough cuteness? Here's a toddler with an Irish cap:



In fact, there were quite a lot of people around wearing green hats...



... and very tiny green hats.

I hope you enjoyed those glimpses of Munich's 2010 St. Patrick's Day parade. Let me know which photo(s) you love best. There's a photo competition asking for the best parade photos. Maybe I should give it a try, even though I wasn't one of those pushy photographers which I happened to see at the event.